Armani Fêtes Blanchett

In an era when so many celebrities are famous for little more than their romantic exploits and exiting limousines sans underpants, there’s something totally refreshing about Cate Blanchett. She’s a fashion icon with a closet full of acting trophies and absolutely no baggage, except maybe the kind that’s monogrammed.

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On Monday night, Giorgio Armani SpA hosted a big dinner celebrating her turn in the Sydney Theater Company’s production of
A Streetcar Named Desire, which heads to the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Nov. 27. Fellow entertainers Ben Stiller, Martin Scorsese, Matt Dillon, and Griffin Dunne were all in the house, as were enough sample-size socials to fill the party pages for weeks.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Genevieve Jones, Zani Gugelmann, and Fabiola Beracasa showed up to toast the Oscar winner, as did several major magazine editors, among them Anna Wintour and Cindi Leive. Hosting the affair at the Armani store on Fifth Avenue and 56th Street was Mr. Armani’s niece, Roberta, who had this to say about Blanchett: “You look at her and she’s the ultimate diva. Then you get to know her and she’s even more beautiful. And we don’t know so much about her. She has a private life and it’s private. She’s mysterious. We need more of that.”

The actress was happy to return the love for Roberta and her uncle, whose fashion house has been a major supporter of Blanchett’s theater company over the years. “I count my friendship with Mr. Armani as being one of the great privileges of my life, along with being directed by Liv Ullmann and Martin Scorsese,” she said.

Everyone looked on at her with wonder. What’s not to like? She’s Cate Blanchett.